Beware of the QR Code

QR codes may be a great way to receive product news but beware, malware QR codes are popping up and they can mean real trouble. Would you run random code without first knowing what the code does and whether it's safe? But that's exactly what we do with QR codes, that we scan. It's insane.

While QR codes may open a harmless looking website, in the background malicious code may  download your contacts, passwords, history and more, all without you ever knowing. Recently bogus QR codes were placed over genuine stickers in several window display ads. The unsuspecting mobile users who scanned the ad received a flurry of spam text messages.

Meanwhile, McAfee, Symantec as well as our parent company, CheckSavvy, are developing safe solutions to protect mobile users from malicious QR codes. Whichever QR solution you choose remember, please verify the QR code and happy scanning!

Merchant-Consumer Split Discount Fee?

It used to be that if you paid with cash instead of credit, you could pocket a little off the purchase price. With the advent of the debit card and the merchant services account, fees are stacked against the merchant. There is little opportunity to share those expenses with the consumer except through higher prices.

With the implementation of technology, the web-based shopping cart and the POS scanner, why hasn't it become easier for consumers to share in a portion of the discount fee? Are merchants scared of tiered pricing? Is it too difficult to implement? Would this violate the merchant services contract? My suspicions is that violating the merchant services contract is the reason. If true this is flat out wrong.

As a consumer, I would welcome the opportunity to share in the discount fee if the benefit appeared stacked in my favor. For example, if the merchant fee was 2 1/2% and they offered me a 3-5% price reduction for handling the payment fee this may actually be good deal for both parties.

Why would the merchant offer 3-5% savings when it costs only 2 1/2%? When you consider the costs of the POS equipment, maintaining a shopping cart, chargebacks and processing costs, it may be a better deal for the merchant than it first appears. In addition, there is PCI compliance which is a bigger burden today with hackers and card skimmers creating security breaches at nearly every turn.

I think time may be ripe to explore both a shopping cart and payment system that provides the consumer the opportunity to once again share in the cost of the payment processing. I would love to hear other thoughts on this subject.

visit us at http://www.alohaonecard.com and Aloooooha!

Google Wallet Easily Cracked?

Around the web you see news reports that Google Wallet has been Hacked. One article recently, "Google Wallet PIN security cracked in seconds," demonstrated how did. There are videos demonstrating it too.

According to a researcher at zvelo, they discovered Google Wallet's PIN protection was susceptible to a brute-force attack. It took only seconds to beat their security. What is worse is that it appears Google is powerless to fix the problem

The Vulnerability 

The researchers were able to create a matching PIN by hashing all 10,000 possible numbers, which takes a few seconds and there is a video online showing this.

Protection

For protection, a privacy-oriented payment card designed specifically for mobile wallet offers a better security solution. CheckSavvy Inc and Aloha One Card. have joined forces to offer a mobile app-card combination that provides the complete security solution. The card is a rechargeable, debit card for use independent of other cards, bank accounts, etc. The mobile app let's you lock and unlock the card as well as limit access to the software.

The Merchant Daily Special

While we are use to reading the daily special on the lunch board at our favorite local eatery, until recently there wasn't a good way for many businesses to market their daily specials to loyal customers. Today there is an array of tools to help spread the word:

• Email Notification – Many businesses find that providing email notifications is convenient and easy. Customers can sign up and receive notifications right to their inbox.
  
  
• Text Notification – So many people text, who has time to check their email? Well sending text broadcast may take a little more research to setup but can be an excellent way to stay in touch, especially the younger crowd.
  
  
• Tweet – Twitter is an excellent and simple way to spread the word to your daily special and cost only the time to write the 140 words or less ad.
  
  
• Blog – Why not keep a blog running of the daily specials? Share a recipe or some of the ingredients. Have the chef provide some succulent details from their day in the kitchen. Blogs can be excellent way to engage consumers and keep turn them in loyal repeat customers.

Daily specials are not reserved for restaurants as a wide array of businesses have discovered the marketing advantage of offering a daily special. All of the tools noted are often available for free as a plugin for your website or for a nominal fee as standalone software. Either way, offering daily specials will pay dividends.

Bon Appetit!

Time for Multilingual Coupons

With so many visitors trekking around our major cities from around the globe, isn't it about time we see multilingual coupons? I'm not talking about walking into a Vietnamese-owned store and not being able to read a word of any the advertisements. Article at http://www.alohaonecard.com

As a store owner, I want to offer my discounts to as wide a customer base as possible. With Google Translate, Babel Fish and other online translation services getting better, this is now a real possibility.

In Hawaii, we see visitors from around the world, speaking a multitude of languages. And while Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Vietanemse are challenging languages, Hawaii businesses face visitors from Yap, Chuuk, and other pacific islands where translation services are hard to come by. 

Partnering with students from the University of Hawaii's Center for Interpretation and Translation Service, AlohaOneCard has been developing multilingual coupons that can translate into over 50 languages on the fly. In addition, we are developing a quick entry system for merchants to post coupons online and get them seen.

Our Multilingual Coupon Project:

• Daily specials
• Reward points
• Today only deals
• Buy-one, get ½ off
• Discount savings

We'd love to hear from other retail merchants

Here is your chance to assist in the development. We are looking for input on what you would like to see:

• Easy coupon creation/entry tool
  
• Multilingual coupons
  
• Web interactivity
  
• Text alerts, Wi-fi, or QR code notification
  
• Nearby Communications for in-store notification
  

Tell us what you'd like!

Please contact us to let us know your detailed preferences by contacting us at:

admin@alohaonecard.com

Aloha!

Hawaii, Global Test Bed Without Relocating

Rich Diversity

A search online for the most diverse state in the U.S. will yield results like California, Texas and New York. Actually Hawaii is the most racially integrated state in the U.S. But as usual, many forget Hawaii is actually part of the 50 states. I still get callers that says, “Hi, I'm calling from the U.S...”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau 2010, Hawaii is the only state where whites are in the minority at 24.7%, just under a quarter of the population.

Quick Breakdown:

• White persons, percent, 24.7%
• Black persons, percent, 1.6%
• American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 0.3%
• Asian persons, percent, 38.6%
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander, percent, 10.0%
• Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 23.6%
• Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin, percent, 8.9%
• White persons not Hispanic, percent, 22.7%

Travel Destination

Located in the middle of the Pacific with it's endless beaches, temperate weather and wild terrain, Hawaii is a renowned international travel destination. Monthly tourism reports people arriving daily from all corners of the globe. This diversity makes Hawaii one of the best locations for testing products, services and advertising campaigns with an global perspective without the expense of relocating overseas.

Hawaii An Ideal Test Bed?

Most people from the mainland picture long stretches of beaches, palm trees and Mai-tais by the blue pacific. The idea of thriving hi-tech business is not what comes to mind, typically.

Location

First of all we have the location: The Hawaiian islands are the most remote islands on the planet and halfway between China, Japan and the Americas. Pearl Harbor is located here for the same reason.

Size

With just over 1 million people, Hawaii is a great size for introducing and testing new products while remaining somewhat independent from the mainland and international markets. The Big Island is roughly the size of the state of Connecticut. I believe, roughly 5% of the island is populated while the rest offers some of the wildest, rugged terrain.

How Big?

The Big Island has the world's largest mountain (in overall size), eleven of the earth's 13 climate zones, including permafrost, desert, rainforest and wide open expanses of rolling lava fields. It takes 2 1/2 to 3 hours to drive from one side to the other. Our rainforest are so large, that tourist often get lost and have to be rescued.

• Cellular companies are challenged to provide coverage throughout much of the island
• AT&T Mobile uses has a test center on Kauai
• Mauna Kea Observatory features universities & government astronomers from around the globe

Climate

One of the most temperate climates. Overall we enjoy 78 - 80 degrees nearly every day with slight variations along the coast. Only twenty degrees above the equator, the blazing sun can burn the skin in 15 minutes. Up country,l you enter the rain belt with colder weather and can freeze.

If you develop electronics, this is the place to see how they hold up. While you cannot smell the salt air along the coast like you do on the mainland. There is no continental shelf, so there is little kelp and the bacteria that creates that mainland "sea" smell. However we are completely surrounded by the salt water and things rust here like no where else.

Blazing sun, freezing wet cold, salt air you get the idea.

Merchant Reward for Anti-Skimming?

One of the greatest vulnerabilities to having payment card data stolen has typically been the cashiers, waiters and waitresses who handle card transactions. The teen at the McDonald's counter for example, who swipes your card to ring up your Big Mac and fries. Today, he can hide a wireless swiper in one palm and scan your credit card and transmit the data to a nearby laptop. All of the necessary equipment can be had for under $200 over the Internet including the machine to transfer the stolen card to blank cards, gift cards, etc.

Merchant Reduced Feed

As merchants implement two-factor authentication, where customer receives a request to verify the transaction over a mobile phone, the merchant is in effect reducing their risk exposure. When the customer confirms the transaction, the merchant should not be charged the regular payment interchange fee because the transaction is at a much lower risk class, user confirmed.

Discount Fees Haven't Caught Up

For the most part, anti-skimming measures installed by the merchant to protect the merchant's reputation and provide additional customer security haven't caught up. That is, the merchant doesn't realize a lower discount fee for the transaction. Verified by Visa is one exception. While worth mentioning, my personal experience with Verified by Visa was horrific. While I make purchases frequently online, I could never get Verified by Visa to authenticate me with even simple debit card through credit union. It was as fun as pulling teeth without Novocain. I abandoned the shopping cart and found the item through another vendor.

• How can we have chargebacks on user-verified transactions?
• Should the ACH still hold merchant to return window for Reg E?
• Should Reg E be updated?

Merchant Associations

I hope the merchants, through their associations, push to realize the reduced fees they are entitled to in exchange for increasing security and implementing two-factor systems. I will continue to follow and report on this issue.

 

 

 

 

Selecting Intellectual Property Law Firms

These are my tips on picking the right law firm to handle your intellectual property.

Specialization

First understand that law firms, like most businesses, specialize in different areas of the law. While I was lucky enough to retain attorneys that handle both patent prosecution (patent filing) and licensing, most firms actually specialize in one or the other. Just because your Uncle's brother drafted patents for the snake light, doesn't mean he has a clue on how to draft a software-based patent.

Search current patents in your field of invention

Attorneys are typically listed in the patent application. While this is a great way to get an idea of which attorneys specialize in a particular field, there are potential pitfalls here as well. For one, the attorney listed may have been recently assigned the patents as part of the portfolio for licensing purposes.

When I reviewed patents around our payment card process, I kept seeing the name "Kilpatrick Townsend" come up. They were not only listed on the majority of patents applications but on those applications that were well drafted. As it turns out, Kilpatrick Townsend handles the patent portfolio for Visa and they were often assigned the patents later in the process. Other attorneys wrote the patent but now Kilpatrick was the firm showing up.

I decided to search the U.S. Patent & Trademark site as part of my screening process. This is an excellent idea, so long as you have the correct name and partner as noted in their applications. Many times only one partner is listed on all the patents regardless of who actually filed, so make sure you search the correct partner.

University resources

Universities are hubs of invention. Find a school that specializes in an area close to your field of invention than ask if there are any attorneys they would recommend. I found that schools to be a great source for locating patent attorneys that specialize in highly technical and scientific fields.

Jr. Attorneys

Okay, you found the attorney you love but at $450 an hour can you afford it? Partners usually cost you more than junior staff. Often, the junior staff actually writes the patent application, which can save you a lot of money and the partner reviews it. You need to clarify this is the case upfront.

Write it yourself

While I normally don't recommend writing the patent due to the nuances in patent law, if you are an expert in your field and up-to-date on the latest developments, you may be the best person to write it. Besides, who describe your invention better than you. Big mistake if you don't know patent law, too many pitfalls. However, I would recommend writing the provisional patent application (throwing in everything including the kitchen sink) but let the pros write the final patent.

Be done with it

Do your homework but select someone and file it. Remember time is of the essence with patents and you do want to file before your competition! Good luck.

Beware Flame!

The first clue of trouble, "Boomerangs a reality in cyberwar," by Richard Lardner of Associated Press was published in the Sunday paper. If it were in the back of Monday's paper, it was meant to be missed.

Mums the word

I've followed Stuxnet on debka.com as events unfolded in Iran. It took two weeks to hit the U.S. press and only after a Canadian team of antivirus programmers published any concerns. The U.S.was good at keeping the news under the radar.

Stuxnet is the infamous virus allegedly developed by U.S. & Israel, (both deny any involvement) to disrupt the Iranian nuclear infrastructure. For months reports trickled out Iran of bases suddenly exploding and these attacks have been linked to Stuxnet virus. At the time, only the Canadians warned that that hens may come home to roost. According to "Boomerangs," it appears they may have.

Aloha!

Hawaii Kills Hi-Tech

Hawaii's last Republican governor, Linda Lingle, let the legislatures kill the hi-tech business credits, known Act 221, and with that came the swooshing sound. The dream of making Hawaii a cutting edge, hi-tech business arena was flushed down the toilet.

Act 221 allowed pre-approved hi-tech companies to offer investors 100% of their investment back over 5 years using state tax credits. Hawaii, a state dependent on tourism, promoted Act 221 as a way to move away from the state's dependence of visitor travel, took several large steps backwards.

Act 221 No Picnic

Act 221 was no picnic to navigate or to use. What most people fail to realize is that hi-tech companies wishing to utilize the program, had to be pre-approved and there was a lot of ambiguity over what the state considered hi-tech and what it didn't. Worse, investors had to be pre-approved to receive the tax credit, which meant if a business had a dozen potential investors, each had to be willing to go through the process of state's scrutiny.

State enjoys surplus

Meanwhile, the very fears the legislatures cited when they voted to kill Act 221 tax credits, that of mounting budget deficits and possible layoffs has not been realized. Actually the state is enjoying a budget surplus since they capped the counties share of the hotel tax revenues and visitor arrivals have boomed.

Overtaxed

Today the state of Hawaii offers business start-ups one of the nation's highest state & corporate tax rates. Hawaii generally falls around the bottom when as a far as most business friendly. Visitors make out worse, of course not until they leave... On checkout, hotel taxes add around 25% to your bill. Auto rental fees & can be as high as 50%. But at least everyone smiles and says, "Aloha."

More to Come

I will continue to cover the pros & cons of being a Hawaii-based hi-tech from the inside out.

Aloha,

Alan Rudo

Inventor's Dilemma:

It goes something like this:

Jill Enterprise has a great idea. She gets a do-it-yourself patent
book, does a cursory search and doesn't find her invention. She feels
she stands a reasonable chance at getting a patent. Does she hire a
patent attorney or file it herself?
 

Smart: Professional Patent Search

Jill is smart. She does doesn't do either. First, Jill needs to see if her invention is patentable.
While all the do-it-yourself books are great, none will match a professional patent search. Jill
needs to plunk down nearly $1,200 to see what the experts think. If you knock spending
$1,200, fine you should not be patenting.

Unless Jill is an expert in the field, forget doing the search herself. The time and energy Jill
would spend  to do the search would cost her more and I doubt she would feel sure about
her results. It's boring, hard work but undoubtedly the most critical step.

75% Best Case

Once Jill gets an all clear, (understand that's about 75% all clear on prior art because no
one can view patents filed in the last 12 - 18 months) she prepares her own provisional
patent. Jill struggles over writing it herself or hiring professional help.

Preparing the Provisional

Unless Jill has a lot of dough or is backed by a company, I would recommend she write
the provisional application herself. If she can afford to have it written by a good
patent attorney, or at least reviewed by a patent attorney prior to submittable, even
better.

Good Representation

It's a big plus having a good legal firm represent her, if only on retainer. Many businesses
will not take Jill seriously if she is not represented. Those that do are probably thieves. Patent
rights are complex and best left to the pros. What Jill wants is a firm that can negotiate the
licensing as well as handle the patent application. Often these are handled by two separate
firms.

How do you find a good patent attorney? I'll have to do that in a follow-up.

As an inventor Jill can breathe easy knowing that for $1,200 she'll have a good idea if her invention
is patentable. It's a bargain. It is about the minimum I'd recommend spending if one is serious about
seeing if their patent is doable. I haven't addressed the invention companies that advertise on TV
and the radio because I figured if you were gullible enough to be misled by them, you wouldn't be
reading this.

Ready, Set, Market

Jill needs to prepared to market her invention to prospects right after she files her provisional
patent because the clock is ticking on the one-year limit to file your patent. Jilll's goal should
now be to raise enough money to file her prominent attorney on retainer in all the countries
she wants to market.

Bookoo Bucks!

Jill will need big money if she decides to file globally. That's the beauty of other people's money.
Which bring us to the second inventor's dilemma: license or start company. This really
depends on Jill.

Jill's Considerations:

• Can she license to companies without them stealing it easily?
• Does she have time, energy & drive to start a company?

These aren't the sole considerations but two critical ones.

Easy to Steal?

First, it's easy to steal an invention on paper, then when you have prototype and
few customers. Personally, I'd recommend to Jill that she make a prototype on
her own dime or with the help of friends & family. Sadly the courts have made it
easy and profitable for companies to steal. First Jill would be unlikely to get an
injunction. She would need hundreds of thousands if not millions to sue them.
Best case if she wins and they don't bankrupt her fist, is they give up 5% of the
profits - Whoopie! No wonder patenting is left to mostly larger companies.

Add a Trademark

Only Jill is smart and she grabs a snazzy trademark for her invention. Yes, my
friends, the high price attorney's will tell you that the right, catchy name can
be worth it's weight in gold. Also the fees for filing trademarks are under
$500 so consider them seriously.

Start a Business

Only Jill knows if she has the stamina of running a business. I'll provide more on the topic in
future articles. You are welcome to share this article free of charge so long as the original link
is included.

About the Author: Alan Rudo is not an attorney and is not offering advice. The above are strictly
is personal opinions and views. Currently he also publishes these articles as Wiki Tiki's Blog at alohaonecard.com

Original Link: http://www.alohaonecard.com.